On Thursday Jennifer Bookwalter told us that a picture of a vagina on a flier advertising The Vagina Monologues was "lewd, offensive and unnecessary." The flier also "ruined in one swoop" her good mood. Why? Is a vagina such a horrendous thing that we can't see one in public?

Are they offensive because they are dirty? Hateful? Do they attack your personal freedoms? I don't understand. I don't understand how parts of people, parts that we can't deny, parts that we were born with can ruin someone's whole day.

The attitude displayed by Ms. Bookwalter is one that needs to be transformed. America has a view of vaginas and women that is blatantly misogynist and shouldn't be tolerated. It's offensive to me that my mother, sister, aunts, cousins, friends and girlfriends have all grown up with a fear of themselves. As a man, I have had no such enculturation. For that, I am glad.

So, Ms. Bookwalter, I hope that you can understand that so far as I can see, the "distasteful" picture that offended you is a hopeful attempt to get people to be more accepting of vaginas. After all, 51 percent of the world's population have them. Why treat them like a dirty secret?